2020 Trullo Flaminio Susumaniello

Susumaniello takes its name from somarello, the little donkey of Puglian dialect, because a young vine carries enormous loads of fruit before its yields collapse with age, and that temperament is precisely why the variety was abandoned for Negroamaro and Primitivo and had almost vanished from the Brindisi countryside before a handful of estates replanted it. Trullo Flaminio put in two hectares in 2016 on the same clay-and-limestone ground as its old-vine Negroamaro, near the sea along the Via Appia, so this 2020 comes from vines in their fourth leaf, the donkey at its most generous. The winemaking is simple and transparent: native-yeast fermentation in concrete, with 80% of the wine raised in concrete and 20% in used tonneaux, no new wood anywhere. 2020 was a balanced season in Salento, without 2021's drought or 2022's extreme heat, and six years in bottle have turned the grape's famous blue fruit toward something darker and more savory. In the glass, it pours an inky, nearly opaque purple with a narrow garnet rim. The nose is blueberry, black mulberry and violet, with black pepper, dried fig and a cool note of eucalyptus. On the palate it is round and juicy, with soft, velvety tannins, fresh acidity and a long, dark-fruited finish that stays clean. This is Susumaniello as a drinking wine rather than a curiosity, pure and unforced. Drink now and through 2027, with bombette from the Valle d'Itria, braciole al sugo, or burrata and a wood-fired pizza.